A Marauder's Tale
by Albino Redneck
Summary: MWPP era SBRL JPLE as the Marauders deal with everyday issues every student deals with, something mysterious is happening to the teachers. Voldemort is on the rise CHAP. 6 is Up!
1. Chapter 1 returning

Hmm this plot bunny attacked me and it goes a lil something like thisssss

Summary: MWPP era SBRL as the Marauders deal with everyday issues every student deals with, something mysterious is happening to the teachers. Voldemort is on the rise.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHINGGGGGGGGG

The Marauder's fifth year of Hogwarts was apparently going to be their best yet. But Sirius and James said that every year from their first year when the Marauders were formed on the train to school.

Students were frantically hurrying on board as the steam rose from the engine and they were on their way. Remus sighed and searched for a compartment containing any of his friends. He was halfway through the train when something collided into him hard, pushing him against the opposite wall.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOONYYYYY" It screamed in delight. Remus could see only deep blue-black hair and could only guess who it was.

"Why, hello my dear Padfoot." Remus said calmly. "Where is everyone else?"

"Jamesie-poo is attending to unfinished business (wooing Lily) and Peter's gone off to the trolley, he'll be back in a few. Come on!" Sirius grabbed his hand and pulled him into the once-empty compartment.

It held many remnants of the Marauder's presence, even though the train had only just taken off. Strewn candy wrappers lay fluttered about, their carry-on bags lay in the corners, unzipped and filled to the brim with brightly-colored papers, snacks, and assorted things Remus was pretty sure he didn't want to know about.

"Looks like you guys made yourselves at home." Remus said, stating the obvious.

"Yup!" Sirius plopped down onto a seat, and patted a spot next to him, for Remus to sit in. He obliged. Sirius lay horizontally on the long seat and rested his head in Remus' lap with a contended sigh. Remus wasn't surprised; he was used to it by now.

Sirius was a man of touch. He couldn't hold a conversation with you without touching you; he just didn't feel connected enough. If he was talking to you, he wanted to have your full attention. Others thought it was weird, but truth be told, Remus didn't mind. He didn't have that many friends as it was, he wanted to be as close as possible with the ones he had.

"So how was your summer?" Sirius asked nonchalantly.

"Umm, boring, uneventful…did I say boring?"

"That's because you didn't spend any of it with ME Moony! James and I had LOADS of fun, 'cause we know how to party." Sirius said with a wink.

"Hmm, yes, I'm sure you wouldn't have liked my 'furry little problem' showing up at your party though. He tends to be a wet blanket on social events." Remus retorted, absent-mindedly stroking Sirius' hair, looking nowhere in particular. "I hope you and James didn't get into trouble."

"Not too much, those muggle please-men or whatever you call 'em stopped by James' house a couple of times telling us to turn the music down, but other than that, we stayed pretty much to ourselves. Oh! But there was this one time…" Sirius went on to describe several memorable events that occurred over the summer. Remus was content to just listen, as he had no interesting stories of his own to tell.

A few minutes later, Peter came in arms full to the brim with various treats. Remus felt his stomach grumble, and was grateful for the food.

"Hey, Pete. How was France?"

"Oh it was alright, my Gran wouldn't let me do much. But my cousins and I had fun."

"That's good." Said Remus, his mouth half-full of chocolate frog.

"Remus?" Sirius asked, his head tilting back so he could look the werewolf straight in the eyes.

"Yes Sirius?"

"Why do you love chocolate so much?"

"Now what kind of a question is that?"

"Don't answer my questions with questions."

"Okay, Sirius." When Remus didn't speak further, Sirius became irritated.

"REMUS!"

"What?"

"You still haven't answered my question!"

"Hmm, I guess I like Chocolate because it tastes good."

"Well NATURALLY, Moony, but you seem to eat it more than any of us. So maybe you have some like compulsion to eat chocolate, or maybe another disorder, or maybe it comes with being a werewolf, or it could be that you're a growing boy and need your sugar…"

"Sirius?"

"Yes, my dear Moony."

"I think you answered your own question."

All three laughed as James walked into the compartment. The laughter continued once the three took on the appearance of their missing Marauder.

He was stripped almost completely naked, only his knickers on, the words "Lily Evans will NEVER go out with THIS" were in flashing pink letters branded across his chest.

"Don't ask." James mumbled as he stumbled into the compartment, looking thoroughly disgruntled. The Marauders didn't need to ask, they all had a pretty good idea of what went down.

As the train neared closer and closer to their home-away-from-home the Marauders changed into their robes, picked up their various sweet wrappers, and somehow got the cursed phrase to remove itself from James' torso.

The horseless carriage ride was peacefully uneventful, everyone seemed too drained from the train ride to speak. Sirius head had found itself back in Remus' lap, his feet hanging out of the side of the carriage.

Remus sat in the corner, his lap being occupied; he was forced to sit up, his brain slipping in and out of consciousness. The stars twinkled outside merrily, silently celebrating the return of their favorite people. Remus smiled a little. As his eyes closed, his other sense increased in frequency. He could hear the creaking of the carriage wheels; he could feel the comfortable weight of Sirius against him. He could smell the crisp, forest air wafting in from the outside. The wheels of the carriage went over a pot-hole in the road, bumping everyone back into reality.

"Five more minutes."

Everyone except Sirius.

The start-of-term feast was delightful as always. The warm candlelight illuminating the faces of their peers. The food was cooked to a crisp, scrumptious stature, and went down well with everyone. The courses passed by all too fast and soon people were heading up to their dormitories to sleep in beds they had secretly missed while they were at home.

Like it or not, Hogwarts was home to these students. They spend more time here than anywhere else. Their beds at home that they slept on throughout childhood seem foreign to them now. Remus sighed to himself. He was finally home.

He slipped into his bed quietly, and in those first few blissful moments before sleep, he had a feeling that this year would be great. It would stand out from the rest.

With a grin plastered on Remus' face, he slept.


	2. Chapter 2 1st prank of the year

YAY Chapter two!

Thanks to all who reviewed

This chappie has some swearing in it, I'm warning you

And without further ado…

BANG

The marauders awoke with a start. Well, at least three of them did. James, it appeared, was already gone, even though the sun had barely risen.

Remus was up and out of bed in no time, thinking his friend might be hurt, he threw his slippers on his feet and scrambled downstairs to the common room, where the sound had presumably come from.

And there, once again in his knickers, stood James Potter, with the words "Lily Evans will STILL never go out with THIS." Emblazed on his chest.

Remus leaned against the staircase banister; he had to, because he was laughing so hard, when would he ever learn?

"Oh sod off Moony" James scowled. Remus didn't flinch, he knew James wasn't mad at him really, he would have said Lupin is he was.

"Right-O Prongs."

"What happened?" Yelled Sirius as he came bounding down the stairs.

"Oh Prongsie here just got turned down again."

"She'll never go out with me!" Whined James.

"Well maybe if you didn't act like such an arse…"

"Shut up Padfoot."

"I'm only saying…"

"SHUT UP!"

Remus just stood and watched. Sometimes he felt like the only mature one of the group.

"Hurry up you two or we'll miss breakfast!"

The Marauders got dressed and walked downstairs. James grumbled along. He needed to find himself a girl. Maybe if he showed he was mature enough to hold a relationship with someone else, Lily would realize it too. Remus tried to tell him this, but naturally, James wouldn't hear of it.

"But I don't LIKE anyone else Remus! I LOVE LILY MARIE EVANS!" He yelled across the table. Lily flipped him off, not even looking up from her food. James frowned, and was about to retort when he was interrupted by the arrival of their new schedules. Professor Sinistra was handing them out.

"Hey! Where's young lady McGonagall? Our lovely head of house! She's usually the one that does this doesn't she?" James cooed. Sinistra was not amused.

"She's in the hospital wing my dears." The Marauders gasped collectively. "Something has taken over her, and she is not feeling well."

"But, but, nguh" James said intelligently.

"Yes of course, naturally you're upset." Sinistra offered. "Your transfiguration classes will be taught by a new Student Teacher awaiting employment, At least, until Minerva is feeling well enough to teach."

With that, Professor Sinistra walked past their gaping faces. This was something they've been waiting for for years.

A substitute teacher.

A new teacher.

Fresh meat.

The pranksters would have a field day with this. Their first block was held by a free period so all four scrambled back up to the common room to make plans.

"Sweet Merlin this'll be awesome!" Sirius squealed in a very Un-Sirius way.

"Oh I've got one!" Said Remus "When I tap on the desk three times everyone moves one seat to the right!" Remus didn't look it, but he could be very mischievous when he wanted to.

"That's good Remus! We should right a bunch of fake-names and slip them into their folder for the class roster like….Anita Bath. Ha Ha!"

"We could put a thumb tack on their chair!"

"James we've done that a million times."

"It's old but classic."

They wrote all the ideas down and more. This was going to be an amazing day back.

Remus still had a spot in the back of his mind for McGonagall. What could have possibly made her sick this early in the year? Something was up, and Remus wanted to find out. He looked over to the list of the things they had planned and smiled.

Finding out could wait.

The Marauders strode into their familiar transfiguration room to see an unfamiliar site. A small, scrawny man with strawberry blonde hair sitting at the desk, wringing his hands. The words "Professor Tucker" were scrawled on the board with shaky letters.

"Perfect!" Whispered James to the other three. "The nervous type, they'll fall for anything."

The Marauders had taken the liberty to enlighten the rest of the class what they were up to so they could all play along too. Lily, who hadn't liked the idea initially, was sitting in the back of the class with a small smirk on her face. Though she was trying to hide it.

"Umm, good day, well good morning actually. Well just, just good then. Good everything. Sorry I'm a little, AHEM, um well, anyway. Good morning class. I am Professor Tucker, and I will be substituting for Professor McGonagall while she is feeling under the weather. I will now take roll." He bent down into his papers to look for the roster; Remus tapped his desk three times.

The entire class rose as one silently and everyone changed seats, even Lily. When Tucker had found his roster, which had been changed by the Marauders, he raised his head and gasped.

His class had not been sitting that way before. They were all staring obediently at him with innocent wide eyes. Tucker squinted his eyes and scanned his class, not seeing anything wrong, his eyes returned to the class roster. Dear Merlin! His class had some unfortunate names!

"Umm, alright. Anita Bath?" The class giggled. "Anita Bath here?" More laughter. _I guess she's absent_. Tucker thought to himself, he cleared his throat and moved to the next name. "Alright, is Haka Lu Gie here?" the laughter grew louder. The teacher thought the name sounded foreign to him. "Willie Suckit?" He was starting to catch on when the class laughed harder than ever.

"We're sorry Mr. _Fucker_." Sirius exclaimed.

"Come on now, there's no need for language like that, it clearly says on the board that my name is…" He turned around only to see that his name had changed indeed to Fucker.

"I'm sick of this, every school I go to it's the same. No one ever gives me any of the respect I deserve, go, class dismissed. I hope next lesson you all will be better behaved!"

The class marched out silently, not daring to laugh. This was soon broken when they all heard a loud "OW!" coming from inside of the classroom.

Professor Tucker had sat on the thumbtack.


	3. Chapter 3 Moody Moony

YAY CHAPTER THREE!

I hope this chapter will be longer, some romance is in the air!

Thank you to all who reviewed and I hope I get some more love this time!  
For those who are wondering, I'll try to update once a week, on the weekends, I just don't have time to update more than that…

I don't own Harry potter blah blah blah

Chapter Three

Moody Moony

The Marauders sauntered into the common room, they were heroes. They had just pulled one of their greatest pranks ever, and they were basking in their glory.

The four pulled the four greatest seats in the room and started a game of exploding snap, with no intention of playing. they REALLY wanted to act like they didn't care so people would congratulate them more. This was something they did often.

"Nice one Black!" A fellow fifth year yelled to them. Sirius winked at him, gave a momentary wave of his hand, and then returned to pretending to be absorbed in the game.

Remus studied Sirius for a second, the way his dark hair fell into his eyes in the exact right places, how his smirk showed off his straight white teeth. He was just getting to Sirius' lips when he snapped out his trance, helped by the explosion of the card house that was now toppling to the table top.

Remus widened his eyes to clear his head, it helped, a little. He had momentary lapses of, what some would call, _infatuation_, but they never meant anything. At least, he hoped they didn't.

Remus had never had a girlfriend, Remus, it seemed, was destined to be alone. As far as others were concerned, Remus was asexual, and at one point in his life, he would perform mitosis, and his task on earth would be complete. Remus preferred it this way; at least he thought he did.

His attention returned to his cards as he felt the eyes of the others on him. He placed a card on top of the house, and once again, to his luck, causing the entire thing to fall again.

"Come on Moony!" James whined. "We were so close to a third story!" Remus nodded.

"I know. I've never been good at this game, I think I'll go into the dorm to study…"

"Remus," Peter chimed. "We've only had one class, we don't have anything _to _study!"

"Yeah…" Remus trailed off, and went upstairs anyway.

The Marauders watched him leave, and then looked at each other to see who would do damage control. Whenever Remus went away to "study" for some unknown reason, it was an unspoken plea that he needed to talk with someone. Though none of them could imagine what problems he could possibly be having this early in the year. Sirius was the most curious to find out what was wrong, so he volunteered.

"I'll go, I guess I'll see you two around lunch. See you later." James and Peter waved and wished him luck.

Sirius calmly walked the stairs up to his dormitory that the Marauders had shared for five years. Not knowing what to expect. One could never really tell with Remus, sometimes he was crying, sometimes he was actually studying or sometimes, he was just laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, like he was this time.

"Hey, Moony." Sirius greeted. Sitting at the edge of Remus' four poster.

"Hey, Padfoot." Remus replied, clearly a reflex response that had no meaning.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked. Why beat around the bush?

"Oh nothing," Remus lied through his teeth. "I guess I'm feeling guilty about doing all those things to Professor Tucker." Sirius knew Remus was lying, but thought he would play along for a while, the real reason would unearth itself if he prodded the right soil.

"Aww, come on Remmy, it was funny. It's not like he knew it was YOU. And besides, now that it's happened, he'll crack down to business and we'll never be able to goof off again." Sirius ended dramatically.

"Liar." Remus smiled. That was a good sign, at least he was smiling. "You goof off even with McGonagall on you."

"Touché"

"What even happened to McGonagall anyway? What could have POSSIBLY made her ill this early in the year?"

"I don't know Remmy," Sirius scooted closer, putting a comforting hand on Remus' leg, sensing his worry. "But she's a young thing isn't she? She'll bounce back in no time at all." Remus nodded, his mind clearly elsewhere. "Now what's REALLY got your knickers in a twist. You wouldn't get all weird worrying about _McGonagall_…Are you stressed out or something? Is it your family? You do really seem tense…"

"I don't really want to talk about it." _At least not with SIRIUS…He probably wouldn't understand the fact the you are having fantasies about him._ Remus thought to himself. _Meaningless fantasies, MEANINGLESS._ But the more he said it, the less convinced he was. He was shocked to find his shoes and socks removed, and Sirius' hands gently squeezing his feet.

"Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Mmm?"

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" He sounded terrified.

"I'm massaging your feet. Isn't that what people do when they're stressed? Get a massage?" Remus didn't know what to say. So Sirius kept talking. "So tell me what REALLY has you bugged, come on, we're friends, you can tell me anything."

"Well, I guess what has me bugged, is love…"

"Ahh, yes, Love can be a right pain in the arse sometimes…"

"Well, I'd rather have a pain in the arse than nothing at all…"

"I don't get you."

"Sirius, I've never even had a girlfriend. Never any type of love at all. Is there something wrong with me?"

"Come on, Moony. What about Betty…whatserface, back in third year? You liked her didn't you?" Sirius moved up to massage Remus' back and shoulders.

"I liked her, just, nothing ever happened. Do you think she liked me?"

"Liked you? She was nuts over you Remus! You just never asked her out."

"I should have, and you can imagine how I regret that now. I just kept thinking about rejection, and how much it would hurt…"

"Well, better late than never, you could ask her now…"

"Nah, I don't like her anymore, besides, she's with that Red-Head…"

"Yeah…"

A few peaceful moments of silence.

"Sirius?"

"Yes, Moony?"

"Do you think I'll ever find love?" Oh Remus was begging for it now. There was no denying that he wanted Sirius to kiss him, to hold him. He just didn't know how much longer he could stand waiting.

"Ever? I'm sure of it. There's someone out there for everyone Moony. It just might take them a while to realize it. Take Lily and James for example. Everyone knows they're gonna wind up married with twelve children living on a chicken farm with a white picket fence. I think Lily even knows, she's just in denial. That, or she just wants to wait and see how long it'll take to break James…" Remus gave a snort of laughter. Sirius massaged Remus' scalp gently, Remus' head rolled willingly in response. His eyes closed.

"Sirius?"

"Yes, Moony."

"Where in the WORLD did you learn to massage that way?" Sirius chuckled with a laugh that sounded like a bark.

"Hmm, it's a natural talent I suppose…" Sirius tore his hands away. Turned and sat on the bed so he was facing Remus.

"You're gonna be okay Remus. Just go out there and lasso the girls. Show some confidence and they'll flock to you. It's not like you're ugly or anything…"

"Oh don't be silly…"

"See! That! Compliments always embarrass you, just take them, thank your complimentor, and compliment them back! It's not hard." Remus gave him a confused look. Sirius sighed loudly.

"Let's try again Remus." He cleared his throat. "Hey Remus! Lookin' Good!" Remus caught on.

"Why thank you Sirius, not so bad yourself!"

"Why, Remus. I think we may have just faced a break through! Just act like that and you can get any girl you want!"

"What if I don't want them?" Remus said quietly, though not inaudibly.

"What?" Sirius asked, even though he had heard him.

"Sirius, you give _really_ good massages…" Sirius looked confused. Remus decided for once in his life not to think of consequences, to leap before he looked, and pressed his lips to Sirius' lightly.

He felt Sirius' eyes widen against his eyelashes. Quickly tore away. Looked into Sirius' terrified face. And said tremulously,

"Umm, I have to go…" and promptly ran out of the room.

Sirius sank down on the bed. His mind drawing blank. It was hard to picture Remus with anyone. Especially with other _men_. It's not like he would shun Remus or anything, Remus was his friend, but there was certainly going to be a change…

Sirius Orion Black had never even considered a path of homosexuality before. He had always had so many girls that having men just never crossed his mind.

He looked around, no one was in the room. Silently, he pressed his fingertips to his lips, where we could feel the touch of Remus' lips still lingering. The smell of him was on his hands from the massage and the scent of honey and cinnamon mixed together and rose to his nostrils.

Oh yes, things would be different. But he didn't know exactly how.

OHHHH semi-cliffie. What will he do? Next chappie will be on some Lily/James stuff and and update on the puppies… Be sure to review and tune in next time!


	4. Chapter 4 The Search Party

Thank you to ALLLL who reviewed, I'm addicted to reviews, so keep 'em coming!

(Insert witty disclaimer here)

Chapter Four

The Search Party

_Oh no, that was stupid, that was really, REALLY stupid._ Remus Lupin thought to himself as he ran as fast as he could to an unknown destination. _Why did I have to act on impulse? The one time it actually MATTERED I have to go and be an idiot and reveal how I actually felt. How does HE feel though? It's not like he recoiled in disgust._ For which Remus was grateful, _but he didn't exactly kiss me back either…_

Remus halted, short of breath; he discovered he had run straight to the astronomy tower, one of his favorite haunts. He liked to look at the stars that were strewn across the sky and just think and, only on occasion, he would climb out onto the roof and do his homework when it was nice outside.

He had never been afraid of heights, I mean, it's not like altitude or falling is scary, the only scary part is hitting the ground at the bottom, so really, ground is scarier than high up.

Remus' mind worked in mysterious ways.

He leaned on the balcony and sighed. He wished he had a time-turner, he had read an article about them in the _Daily Prophet_, they were a new invention that allowed the wearer to actually go back in time. Unfortunately, he had no time turner, nor the money to buy one. What was done was done, and he would just have to let things unfold, because from his stand-point, there was nothing he could do about it.

James had been sitting in the Great Hall, in the middle of lunch when he had seen Remus run past, looking thoroughly distraught. He had yelled out to him.

"Oy, Rem! What's wrong?" The werewolf had looked at him briefly, but kept running. James had shrugged, thinking he should let Remus calm down, when none other than the love of his life had sat down at the table not three seats away.

Lily Evan's hair was a bright red, and it glistened in the mid-day sun. James could only gape in awe at her as she sat, reading a book, and munching on a cracker or two.

James gulped. He was going to do it; he was NOT going to screw it up this time. _Just talk to her like she's one of your friends, and maybe you won't get slapped…_His thoughts comforted him as he scooted down one, two, three seats to sit directly across from her. He resisted the urge to don that goofy smile he always did when he was flirting with anyone else. Lily was not just anyone, she was Lily Marie Evans, the love of his life, and he needed to get this right.

He cleared his throat. Lily looked up expectantly, frowned, didn't say a word, and returned to her book.

_At least she didn't yell at me._ James was an optimistic man.

"So, Lily," He said nonchalantly, groping for a conversation topic, his eyes scanned wildly around. "Watcha reading?" She held up the book, still not speaking, so James could read the title.

"Psychotic," James read aloud, squinting. "What's it about? It looks dead interesting…" He judged by all the people with swords on the cover.

"Just a little adventure story," Lily said quietly, speaking for the first time in the conversation.

"That's cool, I never have time to read though, I'm always-always studying, I can never get Charms just right." He had been about to say 'always out with the ladies' then waggle his eyebrows suggestively, but he remembered that THAT was the part where he always got slapped, and changed the last of his sentence.

Lily gave an appreciative snort of laughter. "Yes, I've seen your attempts in class, it's actually rather pathetic. I always think to myself, 'how can the boy who does everything else perfectly without even trying fail so miserably at Charms?' I've always been fantastic at Charms, it's Transfiguration that I don't get…" She trailed off.

James saw a sliver of a window of an opportunity, but he didn't jump on it right away, good things come to those who wait. "Mr. Ollivander said my wand was nice and sturdy, good for Transfiguration, but not quite as whippy, which is better for charms work…"

"Is that so? I didn't know the structure of your wand had anything to do with what it could perform!" Lily sounded genuinely interested. James couldn't believe it, Lily and he were actually having a _conversation. _He squealed with excitement inside, but dared not let it show.

"Yeah I had no idea either until Mr. Ollivander told me." The window of opportunity was widening slightly, he jumped at the chance before it passed him by. "Well, Lily," She looked up. "Since you're stunning in Charms, and I'm bloody awful, and since you're not so great in Transfiguration, and I'm good at it, we could, I don't know, tutor each other…I mean, if you wanted." A shadow of silence passed and James wondered if Lily would slap him, like always. Or her more recent trend of action, brand pink letters on his chest.

"Sure." It was terse, concise, but it was a yes, and James would take whatever kind of 'yes' he could get.

"Great! It's a date then!" He gathered his books and was about to walk off to tell the great news to his friends when her words pierced him through the heart.

"No it's not." James whipped around.

"Huh?" He said intelligently

"It's not a date, James." James noted that she had called him 'James' and not 'Potter.' "It's a study session, so don't be blabbing to your friends about how you finally snagged me." She gave him a smirk that could rival his own. James grinned.

"Alright Lily, It's a _study session _then." He walked off, and as soon as he was out of Lily's sight. Jumped around in circles several times, duly scaring several Ravenclaw second years. He winked at them. "Don't act like you're not impressed." They ran away. James shrugged. _Some people just don't appreciate good dancing. _

Sirius rushed up at him. His eyes wide. James rushed up, apparently oblivious to Sirius' stress.

"Padfoot! Jolly news! I have something incredible to tell you!"

"Yeah, ok," Sirius said, clearly not listening, "Do you have any idea where Remus is?"

James frowned, he didn't like being ignored. But he finally saw how scared-looking Sirius was and decided his news could wait.

"Yeah man," He said softly. "I saw him run that way, about ten minutes ago." He pointed up to the North hallway. Sirius fixated his gaze in the direction James was pointing and said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks Prongs, talk to you later." And He began to run.

Sirius felt bad for blowing James off, but he would apologize later and things would be good as new. He had no idea where Remus was, resulting in him having no idea where he was running to. He also had no idea what his decision was, but he _had _decided he was going to talk to Remus.

He ran past the kitchens. Perhaps Remus was in there?

He gently tickled the pear and the portrait slipped open for him with a gentle giggle. Almost instantly he was bombarded with dozens of small elves, offering him plates of food. He took a small éclair and sat down. He saw no sign of Remus amongst the knee-high elves.

"Young Master Black is distressed. Dippy wonders why." Sirius sighed. He was tired, he needed to rest. He might as well have help looking for Remus.

"Have any of you seen a young man my age run through here? Average height? Golden brown hair?" The house elves' stares looked blank.

"No Master Black. No young man of average height and golden brown hair. But Dippy thinks young Master Black is tired. He should rest, and tell Dippy what is wrong." Sirius sighed again. They had no idea, so why couldn't he tell them?

"Well, recently, he revealed, at least I think he did, that he had feelings for me." The house elves' stares still looked blank. "Romantic feelings." They all gave an 'ahh' of realization.

"Does Young Master Black have feelings for young man of average height with golden brown hair as well?" Dippy asked. Sirius shrugged.

"You know, Dippy. I have absolutely no idea. He's my friend. And I've always been close with him, but I've never though about him in a Romantic sense. At least until now."

"Dippy wonders if Mister Black is telling the truth." The elf gave him a knowing look.

"What?"

"Dippy has seen you and young man of average height with golden brown hair often. You both seem to have to have, as you say, Romantic feelings. At least, Dippy thinks so."

"When have you seen us together?"

"When Dippy is cleaning Gryffindor common room, When Dippy irons dormitory sheets, When Dippy is sweeping the Great Hall, and one memorable time, when Dippy was removing bird droppings from astronomy tower."

"I've never seen _you"_ Sirius implored.

"'Tis the mark of a good house elf, you don't even know that Dippy is there."

Sirius remembered the Astronomy tower incident that Dippy spoke of. Remus and he had been sitting in the astronomy tower, and Remus had been crying, Sirius had forgotten why by this point. But Sirius had cradled him until he stopped; they just sat, and didn't talk. Remus eyes had been wet, and he himself had been silent, but his eyes had spoken the thanks of just being a comfort to him, without asking questions. They had never spoken of the incident again. But Sirius knew that Remus had appreciated it all the same.

"Thank you Dippy, all of you." Sirius rose. "I have to go find Remus." The elves' stares were once again blank. "He's the guy of average height and golden brown hair." As he left the kitchens he heard their 'ahh's of realization once again.

He decided to check one last place. The astronomy tower.

He ran up the many flights of steps. Only to be disappointed when he reached the top to find no Remus in sight. He gave an aggravated huff of anger. "Damn you Remus," He said to no one in particular. "I just want to talk."

As he stormed out of the astronomy tower, he had no idea that a very distraught Remus indeed was sitting on the roof, pouring his heart out because the man he loved in no possible way could love him back.

And so ends another chapter. I know this one's depressing. But I had to have some angst in there. A YAY for James though. Don't forget to REVIEW!


	5. Chapter 5 an open wound

Sorry the Chapter Four took so long; the administrators wouldn't let me upload, so yeah. I thought I'd give you guys a little extra treat for being patient.

I don't own Harry Potter, blah, blah, blah

Chapter Five

James watched Sirius run off into the distance, presumably after Moony. He hadn't gotten a chance to ask Sirius what exactly was wrong, and he was regretting it now. The curiosity was getting the best of him.

Just a few hours ago they had all been sitting together playing exploding snap. Then Moony left, so Sirius went to comfort him, then suddenly, Remus runs off and Sirius is running after him? What could have possibly happened? Maybe Sirius had offended Remus in some way, about his furry little problem. The time of the month was coming up, so maybe Sirius said some off-hand remark that had triggered an unexpected domino affect?

_Well Damn it all._ James thought to himself. _Prongs, you're a genius!_

He was ever so proud of himself for figuring out the puzzle by his lonesome, his self-esteem climbing higher still from successfully talking Lily into a study session and not getting slapped ONCE. His grin broadened and broadened. Since Sirius and Remus were presently occupied, there was only one person left to tell, Peter.

Peter had been awfully quiet lately. Always been there, but quieter and quieter as the days went along. James thought it must have been about a girl. He _had_ been looking at Michelle McClellan an awful lot lately. Prongs decided to talk to Peter about that too.

He returned to the Gryffindor tower with his usual swagger. The girls looked expectantly up at him, but he did not return the favor. He was Lily's; he thought he had assured them of that last year.

_Flashback_

_Prongs entered the common room and the girls began to swarm. He had become something of what people would call a 'ladies man' and he was enjoying every minute of it._

_At least he had been, before he fell for Lily Evans. _

_He tried to shove some of the girls out of the way to see where the red-head had gone, but she was no-where in sight. Sighing, he brought the girls down to a dull roar, and told all of them that he had to talk to them. _

_The women obediently sat, looking eager and excited, oblivious to James' clearly glum state. _

_"Now ladies. I know all of you are doggone nutters over me, but you need to chill out. The bottom line is, I don't like any of you, in THAT way. Your constant… presence is hindering my chance of catching the girl I TRULY care for." _

_"Who might that be?" One of the many girls asked._

_James' eyes glazed ever-so-slightly, "Lily, Marie, Evans." The girls guffawed in disgust._

_"THAT bloody old bitch?"_

_"She's not even pretty!"_

_"I could be so much better for you James!" James scowled._

_"No, you couldn't. She's not a bitch, she is the most wonderful creature to walk this earth. She is gorgeous and I will not have any more of this bashing of her! Now I want all of you to stop following me like a moth to the flame! The only person I EVER want to be with is LILY do you all understand me? LI-LY E-VANS" He spoke in syllables._

_**End flashback**_

Ever since that day, the women were always waiting for James to give up on Lily, but he never did. He plopped loudly on the chair next to Peter, who didn't even acknowledge James' presence.

" 'Lo Pete."

" 'Lo"

"Do you have any idea why Sirius and Remus are running around after each other like chickens with their heads cut off?"

"Cause they're in love."

"Oh really? Cause I thought-wait….WHAT?"

"They're in LOVE"

"Sorry Pete, one more time?"

"Sirius and Remus are in LOVE"

"Whew, must have dozed off. What were you saying?"

"I'm not saying it again James." James sighed.

"Did they _tell_ you? Or did you just put the puzzle together?"

"I put it together. All the pieces seemed to fit. Except one. I'm not sure they're BOTH in love, but I know at least ONE of them loves the other…"

"How do you figure that Pete?"

"Haven't you noticed James? They're always stealing glances at each other. They touch unnecessarily. The only thing I can figure about tonight is that one revealed their feelings, and the other said something wrong, or did something wrong, or something went wrong, so Remus went running."

Suddenly, thousands of memories passed through James' mind faster than he could comprehend them.

Sirius getting Remus a present for Valentine's Day

Remus, blushing at something Sirius had said

Sirius suggesting we become animagi for Remus

Remus' eyes going blank when Sirius' name was mentioned

Sirius, with his head in Remus' lap on the way to Hogwarts.

James' eyes widened.

_SHIT_

Peter could only watch in amusement as James ran up the dormitory steps screaming loudly. His arms waving wildly, and his feet kicking random objects. The only understandable part of what he was screaming was him repeating the words…

"HOLY SHIT! MY TWO BEST FRIENDS ARE GAY!"

Sirius kicked a bird dropping and walked out of the astronomy tower. If he couldn't find Remus, he might as well think about what he would say when he FOUND Remus.

He still wasn't quite that sure about how he felt. Dippy seemed to think that he was in love with Remus, but admitting you're gay isn't something you decide every day. This was going to take some thinking.

Did he like women as well? Or were the past four years a sham? Was he going to throw every caution to the wind and come out? So many questions, so little answers.

Suddenly, he heard a scuffle behind him. Without thinking, he silently slid behind a statue and waited for the trespasser to walk by, until he saw who the trespasser was.

Remus was walking towards the wall. His crying apparently through. Sirius was working up the courage, and was about to come out of hiding when Remus spoke.

"God? I don't know if you remember me…Remus Lupin? I stopped talking to you after I got my bite, but, I really need your guidance…"

Sirius was stunned, he had no idea that Remus was religious at all. Shamefully, he kept listening, knowing he would have to apologize for eavesdropping later.

"Is being gay a sin? Will I be banished to hell for what I am? Though I probably won't be welcomed to heaven with welcome arms being a werewolf anyway, I just want to know because…There's this guy. I think I love him, I hope he loves me, but I really, truly don't know. I'm scared, and at this point, I feel completely and utterly alone.

Remus kept talking, spilling his heart to an invisible stranger. Sirius never really understood the concept of religion, why talk to someone who can't talk back? He made mental note to ask Remus later. He seemed to really believe in this stuff, because he just kept talking and talking, even though he had no response. All this GOD stuff was never anything Sirius could wrap his mind around. Sirius came back to rapt attention as Remus wrapped up his one-ended conversation.

"Anyways, thanks for listening God, Amen." Remus stood up to leave, and suddenly, Sirius knew what he had to do.

"Remus." He said. Remus whirled around.

"Sirius!" He was shocked. "How did you find me? How much did you hear?"

"It doesn't matter." He answered both questions at once. And in a split second that seemed like an eternity, closed the distance between them, and kissed Remus gently.

Lily was sitting in her dormitory when she heard a scuffle at the door, her dorm-mates liked to hold conversations out there where Lily couldn't hear them, even though she could.

Lily wasn't a very liked person. She was fiery, opinionated, smart, and well, a down-right bitch to people sometimes. She didn't care. It's better to be hated for you are than liked for who you're not. The only real friend she had was her owl, Nightshade, who was at her bedside table, gnawing at an owl treat Lily had just handed him.

One of her dorm-mates was talking outside the door to another person.

"I can't believe James likes _her_. What does she have that I don't?"

_How about some BRAINS?_ Lily thought to herself and chuckled.

"God, I just wish she would be grateful for what she's GOT. I mean if she can snag Potter I don't know why she's complaining! I mean, what else does she have for her? Looks?" Both people burst into laughter.

Lily winced. She was confident in herself anyway, but that hurt.

"I think James should put his time into someone more _worthwhile_. He's never going to get her. She wouldn't let him, she's so picky about absolutely every detail the only person that can stand to be with her is herself!"

Lily pretended not to hear and kept working on her History of Magic Essay, but her ears disobeyed and kept listening.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Potter is doing all this for a bet." More laughter from the nameless people. "But he's wasting his time, and his money." The two girls walked away, and the only thing Lily could hear was a distant muttering.

She was NOT going to cry. Who cared about those stupid bitches anyway? They've got snot for brains and they'll never get anywhere in life because they're STUPID and they don't know what they're talking about.

Lily folded her books and laid them on the floor by her bed. She gave Nightshade one last pet before crying herself to sleep.

Yes, I know, very, very depressing. But I always try to keep the scale balanced. Some happiness and sadness in every chapter.

Next chapter, next week, will include, the study date, a discussion of religion, an insight into Pete's life.

REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 6 The Morning After

There are no excuses for my behavior

I have let down you, the reviewers, and myself

I have taken FAR too long to update, and I am truly sorry, but I have been up to my head in work and I just have NOT had time, so I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me!

A Marauder's Tale

Chapter Six

The Morning After

The sun shone through the red curtains and fell through matching hair, straight into the eyes of Lily Evans. Her eyes, screwed up in irritation, were forced open to face the day. With a groan, she sat up, giving a yawn and a stretch or two. She sighed, today was NOT a good day.

She definitely didn't look it, from the crying last night; her eyes were red and puffy, filled with sleep, and swollen. Her face was pale, with blotches, and two lines running down her face where the tears had fallen, he laps chipped, her make-up flaking, and her hair an absolute MESS.

Today was NOT a good day for Potter's Study Session

She rose silently, not wanting to wake her sleeping, back-stabbing room-mates. For one, misjudged second, she wanted to do something evil to them, put honey in their hair, draw on their faces, anything to get back at them for what they said, but she knew she would never get away with it, Potter was the prankster, not she.

She rummaged through her trunk until she found her favorite green jumper, it wasn't tight, or what anyone would call _sexy_, but it was comfortable, and had a nice little hole in the sleeve to push your thumb through, and it covered the necessary body organs, so, she matched it with a pair of jeans and was off to the bathroom to work on her face.

She scrubbed hard, wanting to remove all remnants of the night before, including the memory of the overheard conversation, but it couldn't be done. The best she could do was removing the tear-tracks from her cheeks and apply make-up to the bags under her eyes so hopefully, James wouldn't see.

James…

What was with her now anyway? Last year she wouldn't let herself be in the same ROOM as him, and now they were allowing _study sessions_? Maybe she was weakening, maybe she was crazy, and maybe Potter was just getting _better. _He did have a cute smile, when he wasn't saying something stupid, Lily thought.

She brushed her hair, with some difficulty, before putting it up in a messy bun so she wouldn't have to deal with it. Finally, she looked at herself. At least she looked presentable.

She walked out of the bathroom, and retrieved her books. _Alright, let's see how shaped-up Potter can be._ And then she walked out the door. Lily was half-way down the stairs when she thought better of it, got out her wand, went back into the room, turned each of her room-mate's hair a different color, then walked out again, this time with a satisfied smile on her face as she headed towards the library.

Sirius lay awake in his bed thinking just how lucky he was.

He had a wonderful man lying next to him, and he was the luckiest man in the world. Never before had he felt so complete, so full, and so _alive_. Never before had he thought that he could fall so deeply in love so quickly. But then again, he had never felt like this before. He recalled the night before and lay with a contended smile on his face, until Remus stirred at his right arm, Capturing Sirius' attention.

There was something about Remus that positively _glowed_ when he was happy. His hair let out an aroma that teased Sirius' senses, and he was bearing a toothy grin, even as he slept. As he stirred he grasped a portion of Sirius' shirt. Sirius brought his left hand to lie upon Remus' and Remus grasped that instead.

Slowly but surely, his eyes opened.

"Mornin'" he said, his words slurred.

" G'Morning babe, you sleep well?" Remus only nodded in response, but then added.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think James and Pete will think, when they find out, you know, about us…" Remus trailed a finger across Sirius' chest then raised his head to look into his eyes, which were wide with surprise.

"I hadn't even thought about them. I hope they won't care, we haven't exactly discussed the idea with them or anything." Remus gave a thinking frown.

"I don't know, I always got the idea that James was sort of a homophobe." Sirius however, grinned.

"Well, we COULD keep it a secret…It would make things more…interesting."

"I don't know Padfoot, secrets never really get me anywhere."

"That's because you can't lie."

"Pads, James can read you like a _book_."

"Not if I really try, he hasn't figured out that I'm in love with you yet right?"

_Love_

The word secretly unsettled Remus, but he decided later to think about it himself, without Sirius there to sway his thoughts. On the outside, he just nodded and smiled.

"But do you want to Remmy?"

"Keep it a secret?"

"Yeah…"

"Well," Remus considered it. "At least until we know how he'll react, I think we should, but we have to tell them eventually…" He trailed off.

"Eventually, I can handle that." Sirius replied.

They settled into a comfortable silence, they had all the time in the world. Peter was off scoffing breakfast, and James had told them that he had a _study date_ with Lily today. Though nobody believed him. That had left James quite angry when he stormed off to meet Lily, but his mind had seemed somewhere else entirely anyway. He would ask him about it later. Sirius finally broke the silence when the thought the time was right.

"Remus? I have a question."

"Shoot"

"Yesterday, I heard you all talking to God and stuff." Remus blushed at the thought of Sirius over-hearing, but tried to hide it. "Which I'm sorry for, by the way," Remus gave Sirius a look. "Anyway, I was just wondering, how you could believe in that stuff? I mean, there's so much stuff against him, like the whole 'why do bad things happen to good people question'" Remus seemed amused.

"I can answer that" Sirius looked stunned.

"You CAN?"

"Mmhmm." Sirius gave him a look as if to say 'well, get on with it!' so he did. "Okay, Sirius, let's say, you had a son."

"Okay…"

"Would you let your son play Quidditch?"

"Sure I would! But I mean, I would tell him to be careful, you know, give him a standard set of rules, and teach him the basics first, so he knew what he was getting into…"

"Would you follow him constantly, correcting every mistake he made, always standing right next to him in case he got hurt? To kiss his boo boo's and such?"

"I wouldn't molly cobble him if that's what you mean." Sirius said defensively.

"So what you're saying is, you would give his rules to abide by, tell him how to be safe, and then let him go on his own? To make his own mistakes?"

Sirius paused for a moment, then proudly said. "Yes! That's exactly what I'd do!" Remus smiled.

"Well, that's exactly what God did." Remus slid out from under the covers, gave a quick peck on Sirius' stunned and confused face, then went to the bathroom to wash up for the day.

Peter had told his friends that he was going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Peter had lied.

Lucius Malfoy had told him to tell his friends that, then told him to meet him on the edge of the Forbidden Forest at 8:00 sharp.

And that's exactly what Peter did.

Peter narrowed the gap between him and Lucius, whom he could see, waiting for him, only a couple yards away. However Lucius was not alone. Peter was scared, there was an unsettled bit of him at the pit of his stomach telling him to turn and run away. NOW. But he didn't, and for years afterward, he would question himself as to WHY he didn't.

"Good Morning Peter" Lucius said, the words were barely audible, yet stunningly clear. "I presume that your friends have no idea of your whereabouts?" Peter only nodded. "Good. Miss Bellatrix and I have something to show you." They beckoned him forward into the forest, but Peter was hesitant. "Don't be afraid Peter, we're not going very far in, just enough so we won't be seen." The trees enclosed him as he stepped forward into the dark abyss, his fate awaited unknown, but for some reason, he kept on walking.

After a minute or so, the three of them came into a clearing, in the middle, lay a stone basin, filled to the brim with water, but on the edges, fire brimmed over. The fire licked the edges of the basin and fell towards the ground but never reached it, as it burned itself up before reaching the ground. The basin itself was only a foot or so in height, but it's cold stone made it seem much larger, and it was this basin that Lucius Malfoy beckoned Peter closer towards.

"Do you know what this is Peter?" Lucius asked quietly.

"No." His answers were short.

"This is a foresight. It lets one see into the future, and recently, Bella, and I, plus a few of our…friends," He gave Bellatrix a smile and a knowing look, she didn't speak. "looked into this foresight and saw a rather, peculiar thing. Do you know what we saw Peter?"

"No"

"We saw the child of Lily and James Potter, Peter." His eyes widened in shock, THIS was going to be interesting. "But this child ended up doing a very bad thing. It killed one of our dear friends, not a year after it was born." Peter was shocked, that was one bad kid. He peered over the edge of the basin and saw the child, it was beautiful, it looked exactly like James, but it had startlingly green eyes. Like Lily's eyes. The kid didn't LOOK bad, but if these guys saw it happen, it must be true. Lucius' expression became very serious.

"Now Peter. We want to prevent Lily and James from having this child, do you understand why?" Peter nodded, something about Lucius' eyes mesmerized him. "If we cannot prevent the child's birth, we would like to eliminate it, as soon as possible, before it does any damage, do you understand?" Once again Peter nodded, his eyes unblinking. "Now, from now on, I want you to do anything and everything in your power, to make sure Lily and James do not have this child. Do you understand?"

Peter once again nodded, conveniently not noticing Bellatrix, with her wand in the air, pointing directly at him, her lips muttering. "Now, I want you to go back to the castle and start on your little assignment, but do NOT tell anyone what you are up to, OK?" Peter nodded. "I want you to come back here, every Friday night, at 7:00 p.m. to tell me your progress. Are you absolutely clear on everything I have said to you so far?" Peter nodded. "Good, run along now." And Peter did, he ran, ran and didn't look back once.

James sat, quite alone, in the library, his head was spinning. He was thirty minutes early for his study session with Lily, but that was the least of his worries at the moment.

Sirius, and Remus, _together!_ What kind of a friend was he if he didn't notice when two of his closest friends were in LOVE? And worse yet, he didn't know how he felt about it!

He'd never even considered the thought of homosexuality before. All this time he'd just been a 7 year-old trapped in a teenager's body, having fun, playing games, and having the time of his life with the Marauders. The whole 'boys will be boys' policy rang in between his ears. All the times in the swimming hole, they'd changed together, how, how _awkward _that must have been for them! And he couldn't stop a little _ew_ from crossing his mind either.

After he thought about it for a while, he decided, if it made his friends happy, then it made him happy too. IF they were open about it with him, he wasn't gonna go and pry into THEIR private business, he wasn't gonna ask. "Hey! So, you two got together yet?" Nope, if they were gonna be…gay…they would have to tell him first. Yes, that was settled. Then something happened that pushed all thoughts of Sirius and Remus out of his mind.

Lily Evans walked into the library.

Her hair looked amazingly elegant, tied up and all over the place, it must have taken HOURS to do. Her face, oval-shaped and angelic, was perfect in every way, she spotted him, and walked in his direction, but her walk was so graceful it could have been a dance. She set her books on the table before sitting down herself. And James could only stare at her.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"You're beautiful." He said, as if that answered everything. But she snorted.

"What?" it was his turn to ask.

"Me? Beautiful? Hardly." She said.

"No, you really are. Have you seen yourself?" He stopped suddenly. "Your eyes are all red, have you been crying?" She gasped at how observant he was, she scrambled for a cover up.

"I, well, the, I'm sure that…" She trailed off.

"So you have…" He sounded genuinely concerned.

"Look it was just some stupid girls…" She tried to sound sure of herself.

"Who were they? Who did this to you?"

"I don't know, some of my roommates…"

"What did they say?"

"Look James, it doesn't matter alright?"

"Please Lily," As her eyes caught his, there was something that made her say,

"Ok." And spilled every part of the story to him.

"Well, they said I was, ugly, and that I didn't even deserve you to be obsessing over me, and that you were probably doing it for a bet anyhow, so it doesn't even matter." She stopped suddenly when she felt his hand on top of hers.

"Lily, I'm not getting paid to do this. I don't deserve YOU, and you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen." Once again, she snorted.

"Yeah, right, alright Romeo, start teaching me the Transfiguration that you happen to know so much about." She said with a laugh.

Now normally, James would have pressed on about how beautiful she was, this time, he simply said,

"As you wish." And opened the Transfiguration book, starting at chapter one.

The study session lasted longer than either of them had expected. They sat at the table until lunch time, but their textbooks lay to the side of the table, long since forgotten. They were talking about everyday things, until Lily's stomach grumbled, giving away that she'd been dying for food for a while, since she had skipped breakfast.

"You're hungry." It wasn't a question, Lily just smiled innocently. "Come on, I'll walk you to lunch." She just laughed, but didn't protest.

She had been presently surprised at his behavior, for he had not even once in the entire ordeal asked her out, or acted arrogant, or done anything truly stupid, except that one time when he fell out of his chair. She was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, James had at least _started_ to mature, and, she admitted, she liked this one, a LOT better than the old one.

Another chapter done, but this one was TWICE as long as usual, (yay) I tried to make up for my absence, well, read, enjoy, and DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!


	7. Chapter 7 What is Love?

Exams suck, as they are the reason I have not updated in so long

I apologize

But please review!

I don't own Harry potter blah blah blah

A Marauder's Tale

Chapter Seven

What is Love?

Sirius _loved _him. Like actual l-o-v-e LOVE. Remus had never fully considered the thought of someone loving him before, because he thought he was not able to be loved. Remus thought that his lycanthropy combined with his nerdiness would have repelled any potential mates, and Remus would never have to worry about it, but now he had someone who loved him and he didn't know exactly what to do.

What was love anyway? Remus honestly didn't know, so he consulted a dictionary. _Books, they carry the answer to any of life's questions. _Remus was shocked that there were an immense amounts of entries for the word love. It had many connotations and contexts. One was a deep, ineffable feeling. One was a feeling of attraction or desire sexually. One was an emotional attachment, as if to a pet or treasured object. One was a strong predilection or enthusiasm. There were endless definitions…

_But which one does Sirius feel towards me?_

To be honest, Remus had absolutely no idea, a dictionary was supposed to tell you what a word meant, but now, it had left him more confused than before he had consulted it. Should he ask Sirius what he felt? Or would that be too weird? Should he just kind of forget it? Would Sirius ask him if he loved him? What would he say? The questions were piling up and Remus was quite overwhelmed. So he began to sort them out as logically as possible, one by one.

Asking Sirius how he actually felt would probably just open up a new bag of snakes that he knew he didn't want to deal with, especially with Sirius. Sirius was as impatient, impulsive, and passionate as they come. Once Remus got him started on how he felt, if he said just ONE little thing out of line, Sirius would yell and throw a fit even after he had forgotten what he was fighting about. Just forgetting about the whole "love" issue was probably best, because you know, some people throw the word "love" around like it was nothing, and that could have been one of those times. But Sirius usually takes things very seriously (no pun intended) he says exactly what he means, unless he was outright lying, which Remus certainly hoped was NOT the case.

If Sirius asked Remus if he loved him, he would honestly not know what to say. For one thing, he didn't even know what love WAS, and if he doesn't know what it IS how could he POSSIBLY know if he felt it in someone else?

For that part, Remus could only throw his caution to the wind, and let the pieces fall where they may. Sirius would most definitely ask him if he loved him, especially now, since Remus wished it wouldn't happen, because that's just the kind of luck Remus has.

Remus was sitting on his four-poster, his head in his hands, deep in thought. His shaggy, uncombed hair fell on the outside of his hands. To an innocent bystander, it would have looked like the werewolf was crying, or at least in pain. But if you actually knew Remus, you would know that this was the way Remus thought. If Remus could see anything else, he would become distracted and start thinking off the subject, and it would be quite difficult to get him back on topic. For now, there was only one subject of thought, _love_, and it was taking all his concentration to wrap his mind around it.

Unfortunately for Remus, his new-found companion knocked on the door not a moment after his train of thought had begun. The wheels in his mind came to a screeching halt as he looked up and saw Sirius open the door a crack to see what was going on inside.

"Since when do you knock on the door to enter your own room?" Remus asked.

"Ever since my boyfriend started sitting silent in my room for over an hour." Sirius replied coolly. Remus' eyes widened, had it really been that long? He checked his watch, and indeed the sixth hand was pointing to the feather, indicating that it was an hour since he had LAST looked at his watch.

"Oh, I must have lost track of time…"

"What were you doing in here anyway?"

"Oh, just, thinking…"

"Thinking about me Remmy?" Remus scoffed.

"Do you really believe that I think about you and nothing else night and day?" Sirius cocked an eyebrow in a fashion to suggest that yes, he did.

"Well, actually I was, among other things" Remus admitted.

"Hmm, what were you thinking about me?" Sirius slid close enough to wrap an arm around the werewolf's waist.

"I was thinking about how lovely you are." Remus half-lied quickly.

"And?" Sirius prompted.

"And, about how lucky I am to have you…" Remus added.

"Hmm that's better!" Sirius seemed satisfied. He kissed Remus' forehead lightly and embraced him quickly before walking back to the dormitory door. "Now, don't you think about me for too long, or you'll get so turned on that you'll come down and kiss me senseless in front of the whole house, and THEN we'll have some explaining to do!" Sirius added a wink.

"Oh, now we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Remus said slickly, though he was sure something in the back of his mind actually said _NO WE WOULDN'T! _

And with that, Sirius slid out the door.

Sirius was becoming worried about Remus. For hours at a time, he had retreated to their dorm and just sat there, thinking. At least Remus SAID he was just thinking. Sirius cocked his head to one side. It seemed that he was having second thoughts about the whole relationship. Sirius scorned himself; he KNEW he had come on too strong too fast. If he had maybe waited a little longer, to make sure Remus was ready, then maybe the relationship would have lasted longer.

Well he sure was glad he hadn't told James about them NOW, because this was about the shortest relationship he had ever had, and Prongs would have hardly gotten a chance to get used to the idea of a gay best friend before the entire thing was over.

But, Sirius had been so SURE that this would work. Once he had decided that being with Remus was a good thing, so many other aspects just fit together and it looked like his life was taking a turn for the better. It just goes to show that Sirius Black was not meant to be happy. Sirius shook his head, got up from the padded sofa and headed for the astronomy tower to do some thinking of his own.

James was without a doubt THE happiest man in the world at this moment.

Throughout the entire Study Session/Date with Lily, she hadn't slapped him, scolded him, or even looked at him with those piercing eyes of hers the wrong way.

_Man, _James thought,_ if I get this happy when she's simply not mad at me, imagine how happy I'll be once we actually go out! God, I must love her, to do all these things for her, I wouldn't do any of this for any other girl! _James stopped mid-thought, backtracked, and stopped on a single word, _love_. Woah. This is one serious word. You don't just go and throw it around. If James was going to go and start using the word "Love" to describe his situation, he should make sure he actually DOES l-o-v-e her. And to find that out, he would also have to find out what love was. Hmm

The boy-turned-man strode through the portrait hole and up the stairs to the dormitory, as he opened the door it squeaked and he winced, for Remus was lying on his four-poster and from the looks of it he was asleep. But on closer inspection, his eyes were open and he was staring blankly at the ceiling, in a trance. James tip-toed silently over to the werewolf's trunk, he knew better than to break Remus' concentration, if he was in a trance, he must be thinking about something big, and he would be snappy if James made him loose his train of thought.

He saw the dictionary on top of the trunk and snatched it as quietly as he could and began to flip through the pages, but once he got to "love" he discovered that the page was already book-marked. James' eyes widened in realization, then they thinned in scorn as he remembered that Remus and Sirius were hiding something from him, something they didn't trust him with, and that made him angry. _Well,_ he thought, _at least I know what Remus is thinking about…_

He returned his attention to the dictionary and read the many definitions. _Yes, _he thought after reading one, _Uh-huh, yeah, most definitely. I feel all these things for Lily, and if a dictionary says this is what Love is, then it MUST be true! So, it's settled, I LOVE LILY MARIE EVANS! _His face broke into a smile that broadened at the thought of her. Quietly, he set the dictionary back on top of Remus' trunk, and tip-toed back to the door. Even if he was angry at Remus, breaking his concentration would not benefit either of them, so he thought best to seek his revenge at a different time.

Dinner in the Great Hall was an almost silent affair for the Marauders. Remus was sitting next to Sirius, almost awkwardly, shifting uneasily, sending shifty glances in his direction almost constantly. Sirius wasn't moving at all, his eyes staring at his full plate, which was getting colder by the second, but he refused to touch it. James eyes were shifting from adoration to a scowl as his eyes moved swiftly from Remus and Sirius, to Lily, who was sitting only a few seats down, and on occasion, returned James' constant looks. Peter was peering anxiously at Lily, and every time she smiled at James, he winced. The scrawny boy was supposed to PREVENT them ever getting together. At first, Peter thought it would have been easy, because Lily seemed to despise James so much, but now it seemed she was actually beginning to LIKE him. Lucius was NOT going to be happy with him when he reported that they were probably going to get together after all. Left with no other options, Peter cried out desperately.

"Lily thinks you have cooties!" No one even looked at him, James simply muttered an,

"Uh-huh, sure Pete." Peter looked at his hands, he was doomed.

On the other side of the table, things were still silent, Remus was hungry, and confused, but he didn't want to eat. What he needed most right now was comfort, and he really had no where else to seek it at. He reached over to his right a little and grasped Sirius' hand. The dark haired boy almost jumped at the sudden touch.

Sirius looked down at their interlocked fingers and smiled. Maybe things were going to be all right after all.


	8. Chapter 8 Confusion

OH MY GOSH GOLLY GOODNESS I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED!

But I will make amends with a lovely new chapter.

Harry Potter is not mine, not even close…

A Marauder's Tale

Chapter Eight

Confusion

There is something very, very wrong with the Marauders. They haven't been talking to each other; they haven't even been talking at all. Not one of them even got a SINGLE detention that day. Something is very wrong.

Lily sat in her dorm, not moving. She unpredictably got sucked in to their supposed stupor. There were so many things that were going awry.

James was fine when he was with her, but when he was with Sirius and Remus he just huffed at them and wouldn't speak. Did they get into a fight that she didn't know about? Could this be the end of their friendship? No, never, they were closer than friends, they were brothers, and brothers didn't do that kind of thing. She was sure it was just something that would, with time, pass, but it had already been a week, and nothing had changed.

Sirius and Remus were always together, but never close enough to touch, and whenever she saw them, they were just sitting, looking straight forward, and not moving. Time seemed to slow when she went to sit with the Marauder's, everything was far too quiet.

Except for Peter.

Peter had been acting very queer indeed. Every time she was with James, he would pop up out of nowhere and point out random girls to James. "Oh, isn't she pretty James?" he would say. James never paid him any attention at all, but Peter never relented. He kept getting louder and louder as time went on. He seemed frantic that our time together be as short as possible, and he always had the demeanor that he desperately needed to use the restroom.

And Lily herself was very confused. What could be so big that it could tear these friends apart? But she had her own problems to deal with. Her roommates became fierce, snarling at her as she entered a room. Slipping potions in her oatmeal that made her sleep through classes, and the words, endlessly words.

"Go back to your muggle town bitch!"

"You don't even deserve to live"

"A troll wouldn't even date you"

Normally, Lily wouldn't pay attention to any such comment, but there were so many, and they were beating her down. The only relief she ever had was when she was with James, and they had been spending much more time together, since he was angry at his friends, for whatever reason.

Well, Lily had to put a stop to it, one way or another. Things couldn't continue this way, she couldn't stand it. The quiet with the Marauders and the exceeding volume with her enemies, it had far gone past the point of no return.

"Hey, Remus!" Sirius approached him after Transfiguration, he was grinning, but Remus knew better, the smile wasn't as wide as it should be, and it didn't quite reach his eyes, where the normal sparkle was absent.

"Hey, Sirius!" Remus replied, just as fake.

"What do you want to do during free period today?" Remus merely shrugged. He had become numb ever since Sirius had uttered those fateful words; they had changed everything. Why couldn't things go back to the way they were? Was it really just a week ago that Sirius and he had been sitting on the bed, talking nonchalantly about anything and everything at all? What went wrong? He didn't know what to do with himself anymore.

"Well, I have an idea, if you want to try it…" Sirius trailed.

"Sure" Remus replied, his voice dry from lack of use. His response seemed to make Sirius happy, which was good, he deserved to be happy.

And suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

Sirius led him up to the dormitory, presumably to drop off his books, but after he set them down, the both of them just stood there. Sirius had a wicked grin on his face, but it had an oddity that Remus couldn't quite put his finger on. He became quite confused.

"So…? Mffff." He began, until Sirius collided with him. Their lips crashed together, Remus' eyes widened with surprised, then closed, in defeat, he didn't have the strength to fight him off right now.

Sirius tasted very nice. Like honey roasted peanuts, mixed with caramel. His hair was very soft against his hands that he had just twisted into his thick mane as black as his name. Their mouths moved silently around each other. This was the closest he had been to anyone in…ever, but it did feel very nice.

Kissing a boy is very different than kissing a girl, not that Remus had much experience, but he knew the basics. You could be rougher with a boy, you didn't have to cradle him, if your teeth clicked a little, that was okay; it was more about the experience than about the technique with a boy. And this was a very boy kiss. This was a very nice boy kiss. This was a kiss, period. And that was something Remus hadn't had in a very long time, and it was very nice. Very nice indeed.

They were sitting on the bed now, though Remus didn't quite remember moving in that direction. And Sirius' hand was on his thigh. Remus didn't comprehend what he was saying until it came out of his mouth; before he could cram it back in.

"I think we should break up." Damn.

Sirius immediately broke the kiss. _Damn. Damn. DAMMIT Remus! You just had to say it didn't you!_

"What?" Sirius choked out. Remus didn't say anything. "Is this moving too fast? We could pretend this never happened, Remus, listen to what you're saying!" Remus despised it with every fiber of his being, but he knew deep in his gut that he should stand by his thoughts.

"No, I think it's better for both of us, if this ends here, before we get in too deep…" Remus couldn't look at Sirius, because he was afraid that he would start to cry if he did, and that would not help the situation, because then Sirius would be all helpful and consoling, and Remus wouldn't be able to help himself taking him back.

"Can we at least stay friends?" Sirius pleaded, and a million things rushed into his head, so all he could say was.

"I don't know…" Sirius looked straight at Remus, who wouldn't meet his gaze; his gray eyes were swimming, not with tears, but with loss. A part of him was now missing. Remus continued to say nothing. Sirius nodded, finally understanding, and calmly, but stiffly, he rose from the bed, and out the dormitory door.

Remus sat still, completely and utterly alone. _What did I just do?_

James was distraught. James was very distraught. He was sitting in the library, next to Lily, in one of their daily "study sessions." He was gripping Lily's hand tightly, normally, she would have protested, but she was afraid to see him explode so she didn't say anything. He was positively fuming. Lily asked tentatively,

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know Lily," he snapped. "How would you feel if you just found out that two of your very best friends were gay, and not just gay, but gay for each other, and they were hiding it from you, would you be OKAY?" _Oh,_ Lily comprehended._ So THAT'S what this is about._

"Do you want to talk to me about it?" She asked, and instantly James' countenance changed. His face softened, and his lips trembled, and he nodded. Without any provocation, he spilled the entire story, and Lily squeezed his hand in comfort at appropriate times.

"Can you believe it Lily? It's not even because they're gay, you know, with time, I can accept that, it's just that they didn't trust me, you know?" He stood abruptly, and began rapidly pacing around the table. "I been their best friend for _five bloody years_" He slammed his fists on the table, the librarian and Lily both gasped simultaneously, but James didn't even notice, he just kept ranting, his volume getting louder and louder. "They were brothers to me! And you know what the worst thing is? They still are Lily, I can't stay angry, and I want to…Oh I want to so badly, to be angry at them."

James plopped down next to Lily, and she could see the different emotions pass through his eyes. Hate. Passion. Anger. Loneliness. Chagrin. Sadness. And he grasped her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes, pleading with her wordlessly to understand him. Lily just nodded as he continued. "I would accept them in a heartbeat if they just came to _me_. I want them to tell _me_ that they want _me_ to know." And before he could utter another word, a very frantic, melodramatic, disconsolate Sirius slammed into the library door. Everyone looked up at him as he slowly regained his composure and opened the door before sprinting the rest of the distance between him and James and crouching at his side, gripping James' leg, his eyes teeming with tears.

"James, please!" He half-shouted, half-sobbed. James' expression was distant, albeit scornful. He looked down at Sirius who was now whimpering into his freshly pressed pants leg, but James didn't care. There was a bond between Sirius and James that can't be broken by something as feeble as a fight, James knew his brother needed help, and James was going to provide it for him. James was now staring at his reunited best friend, in utter consternation. He crouched down next to his now blubbering friend and, whispering peacefully, comforted him.

"Sirius, it's okay now, I promise I'm not angry with you anymore. I promise I promise. Just tell me what happened…" Sirius began apprehensively, looking at James eyes, full of honesty and authenticity, then to Lily, who was holding a hand to her chest and holding her breath, waiting for the events to unfold, before uttering a word.

"James I wanted to tell you, I just…I just couldn't stand to see the look on your face if you wanted to disown us or something. I didn't want to loose you James, but now, it's so much worse, it's so much worse." He stopped to heave a short intake of breath, and James slipped in.

"I already know Sirius, I found out on my own." Sirius just nodded.

"I fathomed you would, perceptive as you are…but that's really not the point…Remus and I, we just, I don't know what happened, whether it was something I said or did, but he transformed into this distant, inaccessible person, and he wouldn't talk to me, or to you, or even Peter. And then, just now, he said we should break up, something about how it would be better for me…But it can't be James, because it wasn't until I had him that I realized just how much I needed him, and I can't stand it James, and he said we couldn't even be friends anymore James." He stopped, powerless to continue.

"Shh, Sirius, just Shhh, we'll figure a way out of this…I know it." James had never seen him this pathetic before, like a puppy that has been beaten, but he knew there had to be something more to this, Remus wouldn't break up with Sirius for a reason as, well, unreasonable as that. Something was lingering underneath the surface. And James was going to find out what.

Remus was a very unintelligent man. If he had any brains in between his ears he would not do what he had just done, but whether it was stupid or not, it was necessary.

Remus was moping under his favorite willow tree. Glimpsing the ostentatious couples are the lake, it was amazing how when you were out of love everyone else seemed to be in it. He glared at his hands, as if somehow taking his anger out on them would help the situation. He kept repeating phrases to himself in his brain to boost his morale, but they didn't really help. _It's for his own good, it's dangerous to be with a werewolf, I shouldn't be allowed to love, I shouldn't be allowed to _live,_ there is no reason to even bother with him if it's just putting both of your lives in jeopardy._ But the words became banal with repetition. This was something that was not going to be an easy fix, put on a bandage and hobble out of the hospital wing. He had something precious and he squandered it away, and now he had to live with the consequences. He just hoped things would be better tomorrow….

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Again I apologize for the lack of updatenes…


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